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Oil-Free Swirl Milk Mantou

I happened to see some mummies sharing about making mantou for the toddlers some days back, and made me quite interested to try it out too.

Making mantou seems to be easier than bread as well, and the proofing time seems lesser.

The little one rejected the mantou initially, and I had to keep offering it at 3 different meals, before she started to try and enjoy it. Hahaha, talking about being picky!

My first mantou attempt! I think I over-proofed it, and also accidentally over-steamed it by 15 mins lol. It was slightly dry on the inside. Ohh, I love the Hello Kitty picks! Hehehe...

I tried making this mantou for a total of 3 times consecutively because I wanted to make it look nicer, and wanted to test out the texture; not forgetting to try to get my daughter to eat it lol!

I think my 2nd attempt was the best! The dough proofed quite well, and after steaming, it had relatively smooth skin. I steamed the mantou over slightly lower heat for about 12 mins. My last attempt was not as good, because I had steamed over slightly higher heat, and longer time (I forgot I was steaming them lol), so the surface had wrinkles on them.

My 2nd attempt!

This mantou recipe is oil-free, so the texture is quite chewy, compared to the more "cakey" texture from the frozen mantou that we get from supermarket. However, I also find it healthier, especially this mantou is made using plain flour, and not very sweet as well.

Actually, she loves steamed buns. But I had been hesitating about making steamed buns for her, because most of the recipes that I've seen uses Hong Kong or cake flour (they are highly bleached), so I was really happy to have found a mantou recipe that uses plain flour.

As you can see, the mantou is slightly chewy, QQ and elastic in texture. Taste a little like bread!

3. After kneading, divide dough into 2 portions. Add in the purple sweet potato powder into 1 of the portion (you may need a few drops of milk), and knead till it is colored uniformly.

4. Place both white & purple dough in greased bowls, and cover with damp towel or cling wrap. Leave to rest for about 10 mins. (I further divide the dough into 2 portions each; ie having 2x white and 2x purple dough. I placed one set of the dough into the fridge as I wanted to make them the next morning. You can also freeze the dough for future use)

5. After resting for 10 mins, roll out the white dough into rectangular sheet. Fold inwards to the centre for 3-folds (三折). Repeat above for 2 times more.

6. Repeat step (5) for the purple dough.

7. Lightly brush some water on the white dough. Place the purple dough on top. Lightly brush some water on the purple dough as well. Roll the dough into a longish swiss roll. Seal the ends well (you can use some water to help seal properly).

8. Once the dough forms a swiss roll, you can use both palms and gently roll the dough against the working surface to ensure that the roll is tight and sealed properly.

9. Divide dough into 6 portions. Place them onto baking paper, and leave to proof for about 1 hour, or until dough doubles in size.

10. Just about 5 mins before proofing is done, prepare your steamer or wok for steaming. Once proofing is done and steamer is hot, place the dough in the steamer. Insert a skewer before closing the lid. Steam over medium low heat for about 10-12 mins.

11. Once done, remove and cool till warm before serving. The mantou is best served freshly steamed and warm.